gksapp

Our SOP is considered the order. It was approved by our medical director, and is reviewed every year. We do not charge for it however.

We require the second sample to be drawn by a different person at a different time. We do not have a minimum time interval specified, although I did consider that. My reasoning is that, if someone is going to draw a sample without properly identifying the patient once, they are likely to do so again.

We went to a similar policy a couple of years ago. Several nurses and physicans concluded that we meant to draw two samples every time a patient received red cells. Based on that experience, I'd make sure they know that this is not the case. The other commonly asked question that we received was concerning neonates. If this is an issue at your institution, you may need to point out that neonates are exempted because they get O red cells.

Exactly. Thank you.

We have a caveat in our trauma policy that if a pediatric patient has been transfused with type O red cells, you cannot switch to type specific red cells until a new sample shows that they are compatible. I would like to get rid of it; it is an awkward thing to do in the middle of a trauma, but I recently read somewhere that this is the proper thing to do. However, now that I'm trying to find it again, I can't remember where I saw it. What do others do, and does anyone know where this reference is? Jerry Sapp

How long do you keep platelet products tagged/reserved for a patient after order? We are a teaching pediatric hospital with a very active Hematology/Oncology group which includes a stem cell transplant center. Our neonatal intensive care unit also uses a lot of platelets. I think that we should keep them for the three days or the life of the unit, whichever comes first. thanks, Jerry Sapp